Dee, Personally I like the round. It fits on top of the burner better.

Teri

When roasting a chicken or pot roast with vegetables in the oven, I don't think the shape matters too much. But for simmering chilli, soup, stew, goulash, etc. where you have ingredients in a liquid that mostly fills the pot, I think a round shape is better, because it fits on top of the burner better as Teri said. The heat conduction *may* be better in a round pan on a stove-top burner. Surrounded by the heat in the oven, either would be fine.

Most of the things we cook in ours, e.g., roasts, chickens, etc., fit better in an oval oven, so that's what we bought. We've had no trouble at all using it on the stovetop.

No question! You need both!
The only oval piece I have is an oval baker....the rest are round.
A potroast or a chicken fits very will into my round Dutch ovens....
Linda C

I have a medium sized (around 5.5 qts.) round and a large oval one (around 8 qts.). I use them both for different things. Although the large oval one is da*n heavy ;o)

I just bought the 4.5 qt oval French Oven. It seems to be a perfect size/shape for small pot roasts.

The real reason I bought oval instead of round was because...um...I thought it was prettier.